'Get the .357:' Martin allegedly threatens process server

Friday

According to Leahy’s attorney Bill Bruce, Leahy’s team is having difficultly serving Martin with updated legal paperwork. Bruce said that Martin was also overheard threatening the process server on a cell phone call with his wife, Margaret, Wednesday night. According to Bruce, the process server claimed Martin used profanity and threatened to destroy him, then instructed Margaret Martin to “go inside and get the .357, you know what to do.” The process server reportedly left the location after hearing this threat.

Leahy is requesting the California Attorney General commence a quo warranto suit against Wallace Martin or grant Leahy’s application to sue Martin quo warranto, alleging that Martin is unlawfully serving on council because he does not reside within city limits.

Martin was served with papers in his county residence on Saturday morning, but Bruce said the original documentation was lacking attachments to the private investigator’s report, so to be on the safe side, the attempt is being made to serve Martin with the updated documentation set.

The amended documentation now also includes several factual corrections that came to light as the result of the Daily Independent’s article in the Oct. 31 edition. Corrections include changing the date of Martin’s Planning Commission appointment from Aug. 5, 2016, to Aug. 3, 2016, and correcting the date on which Martin updated his driver’s license address with the DMV.

According to Bruce, Martin appears to be avoiding the process servers with the help of his wife Margaret Martin.

The chronology given by Bruce to the DI on Thursday is as follows: Martin answered the door to a process server on Saturday morning wearing sweats and was served the initial version of the documents at his residence in the county.

After that, Bruce said, the Martins put lock on their gate at the Felspar Avenue residence so nobody could get onto the premises.

The same female process server was unable to enter the Felspar Avenue premises Monday. Margaret Martin reportedly came outside of the residence and parked behind the process server, took pictures and threatened to call police, according to Bruce.

Martin reportedly contacted the Ridgecrest Police Department to complain of harassment on the part of the process server, although once RPD determined the process server was acting in a professional capacity the matter was apparently closed without a formal report being filed.

Despite the location of the call being in the county, the complaint fell under the purview of RPD because Martin is a current Ridgecrest City Councilman.

According to Bruce, a second process server went to the address on Felspar Avenue with updated documents on Wednesday night. This process server saw Martin’s pickup truck in the driveway and took a picture of it. Bruce said the process server reported that Margaret Martin came out, took pictures, and said she was going to call police. The process server, who was male, took a picture of Margaret Martin taking a picture of him.

Margaret Martin placed a call to Wallace Martin and the process server could see his name on the phone. The process server believed Martin was inside the house at the time but could not prove it.

The process server said Martin proceeded to curse him out, screaming, threatening to destroy him, calling him a “motherf-----.” In the same conversation, he said he overheard Martin instruct his wife to grab the revolver.

“After he made the threat the guy [process server] left,” Bruce said.

Bruce said that attempts to serve Martin at his reported city address on California Avenue were totally fruitless, and that he was never there.

Bruce added that process servers are technically exempt from certain trespassing restrictions, according to the penal code for trespassing. Bruce said the process server remained outside the fence gate on Felspar Avenue.

If and when Leahy’s attorney succeeds in getting Martin served with updated legal documents, Martin will have 15 days to respond to the Attorney General. If Martin responds, Leahy will have 10 days to file a reply if he wants to submit additional information.

Bruce said the Attorney General will review Leahy’s documents not to determine whether the allegations are factually true or not but rather whether the legal issue being raised is valid or not.

“If they accept it doesn’t mean [Martin] is guilty and if [the Attorney General] doesn’t it doesn’t mean he’s not guilty,” Bruce said.

If the Attorney General grants Leahy’s request, Leahy will be able to file a lawsuit against Martin in Kern County Superior Court, which will then be monitored by the Attorney General.

If Martin is found to be improperly holding office, the state would compel him to vacate the office and could potentially award Leahy attorney’s fees and costs.

Martin, for his part, in an email to the DI on Wednesday, characterized Leahy’s lawsuit as politically motivated and “nothing more than an attempt to discredit good public servants who happen to be against the [proposed Timbisha Shoshone] casino.” Martin has been an long-standing and vocal casino opponent. Leahy, on the other hand, has been a strong casino advocate. The two faced off against each other in the 2016 city council race. Martin beat out Leahy for the second vacant council seat by 97 votes.

Margaret Martin responded to this story by email on Nov. 2. Here is her response in its entirety:

Response by Margaret Martin

Casino Threatens Families in Our Town

My comments are in direct response to the sensationalized front-page, article by Jessica Weston, entitled, “Get the .357: Martin allegedly threatens process server.” All I have to say is “WOW, politics is a nasty business.” Even in our tiny town. I was a public health nurse for 32 years in town and probably gave many of you, or your children, shots along the way. Nursing I understand -- politics I don’t. So now I’m on the front page of the Daily Independent and I don’t like it. But since my funny mug shot with cell phone is splashed on the front page over the Clint Eastwood .357 headline, I will explain what really happened to me on Halloween.

Wallace and I had planned a nice evening to trick or treat with our three-year old granddaughter. We were heading to Heritage Village, our favorite “Haunt” for Halloween. Wallace left his apartment in the city after work and headed to our home on Mahan. Anyway, we were milling about the kitchen getting ready to leave, and I heard a horn blowing. Thinking it was a friend that was coming with us for Halloween, I went out to check. Nope—strange man at the gate with poor intentions.

The car was not marked, and he had no official badges or credentials. I asked him who he was and what he wanted and he began his inquisition. I told him to get off my property since he was trespassing, and he said he could and would come onto my property. He then pulled out an old bent card to quickly recite some rights. I thought I had the rights to privacy and the right to feel safe in my own home.

At this point I walked back inside to get my phone to call the police, if necessary, and take pictures of him and his license plate. This time he continued his harassment. I became scared and called a friend on my phone to ask for assistance and advice as to what I should do. He answered, and I put him on speakerphone where he hollered out threats hoping to thwart the thug. The thug could not read my phone, this is yet another lie reported in the paper. He did however reach over the gate and tried to grab my phone out of my hand. On the speakerphone my friend told the man to leave the property, and yes he said a few curse words, you bet he did, including the .357 comment to scare the thug off. Of course, the Daily Independent leads readers to believe this was a direct threat from me. Then, he had the audacity to lie and scream out “Is that your husband on the phone” and I said, “No, it’s not my husband” and he continued his harassment by saying “Oh, now we know, you aren’t even married.” Mindless baiting and he continued his harassment.

I then went back inside to talk with Wallace but he was racing out to the Fourplex because he was getting emails and calls from tenants, around his unit, because a stranger was knocking at their doors, harassing them asking intimidating questions. And one tenant was terrified when someone unbolted her gate and came to the front door.

Needless to say, Halloween was over. My husband and I lost the chance to trick or treat with our granddaughter. An evening that I, as a grandmother, was really looking forward to.

But, tonight, I sleep with my gun next to me, my doors are bolted with ADT on at all times, my front gates are now locked, and my daughter is now scared to be in our home alone. All this has been caused by the negativity that this casino has brought to our wonderful community.

To all the mothers, this casino is a threat to our families. I hope and pray for God’s grace and healing for Ridgecrest.

This story was edited to remove a statement that Wallace Martin had not responded and to add Margaret Martin's email response.

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